The human side of business
According to Forbes Magazine, the top three skills employers look for in high-performing employees are the abilities to work in teams, make sound decisions, and communicate effectively at all levels. The KU Master's in Communication Studies is a 10-course graduate degree program that helps you advance your career by mastering all 3 using research-based, workplace-proven strategies and skills.

"Everything that succeeds or fails within an organizations is due to communication." --Merritt Engel, '01 alum & President of Merrigan & Co.

Who is the COMS M.A. for?

Our students are mid-career corporate, government and small business professionals seeking answers to big questions about workplace culture and employee engagement. Like you, they’ve been working for several years and are seeking more meaning in their work, the opportunity to learn and grow, and the chance to connect with others seeking answers to today’s most challenging – and interesting – workplace issues related to diversity, team development, managing workplace complexity and organizational change.

This advanced business-related degree focuses on the human side of business. Courses provide research-based insights and actionable frameworks that will help make you a sought-after workplace asset.

Specifically, the Edwards campus program focuses on the field oforganizational communication, a sub-discipline of communication studies that examines the role of communication in organizations, with special focus on the role of communication as a form of organization – i.e., in essence, how we organize ourselves through communication and shared identities as individuals, groups, organizations, communities and societies.

Check out this video from organizational communication scholar Dr. Matt Koschmann for a brief explanation of the fascinating field of organizational communication:

How Will This Degree Help My Career?

You will learn how to share information and create greater understanding among colleagues --both internally and externally. Skills taught apply to communicating with internal peers, teams, managers, and leaders – as well as external stakeholders including customers, vendors, partners, regulators, and media. These communication competencies are the core of organizational decision-making, team-building, problem-solving, and addressing organizational crises.

The 30-hour, 10 course curriculum integrates research, theory, and practice to provide you with a unique and powerful communication skillset. You'll explore how to craft targeted verbal, nonverbal, electronic and written messages, while asking the right bigger-picture questions to help your team work through:.

Communicating the same message effectively to different audiences

Learning and using communication technologies to effectively bridge distance

Team formation and communicating with professionally diverse virtual teams

Handling coworker conflicts and workplace bullying

Delivering difficult messages--and more

"I use my communication skills to virtually and situationally lead a team of 8 supervisors and 256 Virtual Instructors in 50 states. It requires communication to guide, develop, and lead at a distance, many times without direct power or influence." --Shawn Sheffler, '04 alum & Manager, Virtual Classroom, H&R Block

Learning designed around your needs

Evening and online courses are taught by faculty with PhDs from top national programs in organizational communication. In addition, these professionals have years of "real world" industry experience in consulting, advertising, employee communication, training and development, and health care.